Cordy Glenn listed as Bengals' most overpaid player

The Cincinnati Bengals do a good job walking the financial tightrope, which helps explain how they have consistently cobbled together one of the NFL’s most talented rosters during the Andy Dalton era.

That is, unless they get desperate.

Desperation set in for the Bengals at left tackle after 2017, where the team fired an offensive coordinator midseason and Andy Dalton regressed to rookie numbers. The solution was inheriting Cordy Glenn’s massive contract via trade with the Buffalo Bills.

For Bleacher Report’s Doug Farrar, Glenn arrives as the team’s most overpaid player:

“But what if he doesn’t? In that case, they’re on the hook for $11.3 million in cap this season with a penalty of $10 million if they jettison him. The good news is that the Bengals can get out of the last two years of Glenn’s current deal with no additional financial penalty. Given the potential $9.3 million in cap savings in 2019 and 2020 were that to happen, Glenn might be playing for his career in 2018.”

It’s a fair point to make, though the Bengals didn’t have much of a choice. Viewing themselves as contenders, starting over with a rookie on Dalton’s blindside could have resulted in another disaster. Instead, taking on Glenn’s contract helped open up the addition of Billy Price at center.

The Bengals don’t have many “overpaid” candidates anyway besides possibly Dre Kirkpatrick at his $9.5 million cap hit in 2018. Only eight players have a cap hit north of $7 million in 2018 and that excludes bargains like Tyler Eifert, William Jackson and George Iloka.

Possible extensions for Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins will change the complexion of the cap outlook soon. For now though, the Bengals are likely quite happy with Glenn getting overpaid to solve the team’s biggest issue.